Life As We Knew It
by LemonOut1
Summary: "The hardest part of being on a TV show is not falling in love with the co-star." Because sometimes it's hard to completely separate yourself from the character you play. This is a Patrick/Ellen (Dempeo) story.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR's NOTE: **I started writing this story almost four years ago. I never posted it because I was never really sure of what direction I wanted it to take, and honestly, I took a break from watching Grey's Anatomy, so I didn't really see a point of writing a story for a TV show I wasn't really that into anymore. Anyways, I was inspired to write this story by what my step sister once told me. She went to college in LA, often was an extra on network TV shows (unfortunately not GA), and she had this story about how sometimes it's hard for actors to completely separate themselves from the characters they play that always made me feel bittersweet. Long story short, an actor and an actress in a sit-com my sister was a recurring extra in (feel free to guess which one! Hehe) dated for a while, but she had a boyfriend back home and she didn't feel like breaking things off. So they quit seeing each other and remained in good terms, but they still had to play each other's love interest on the show. They always had this thing for each other even after she got engaged, but never acted on it. Then the show ended and as far as I've read on twitter and what not, they're still "good friends."

So yeah, that was my inspiration. I think it's plausible for people that work in such a proximity for an extended period of time to develop a deep affection for one another. I always thought Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo had an amazing chemistry on the show, and I want to absolutely point out that **this story is not meant to disrespect their relationships with their spouses and their devotion to their families. It is a work of fiction and should be taken as such. **It's set during the early ears of GA and for the sake of the story PD is married but only has one daughter, and EP is engaged but still not a mom. Here it goes. Please let me know what you think. R&R!

**Chapter 1**

_They never tell you when you embark a plane that there's a chance it'll crash. They never tell you that there's a chance you'll be deadly bit by a shark when you go surfing. They never tell you that there's a chance you'll be buried by an avalanche when you go on a skiing trip. See, people don't tell you these things because they assume you know them. And yes, you do know them, but you never think they will ever happen to you; you hear horrific stories of plane crashes, shark attacks, avalanche accidents but they seem so far from your reality that you don't seriously consider the possibility they might actually happen to you. This is how I feel standing here right outside his hotel room, holding a bottle of expensive champagne, and contemplating whether to knock the door or not. When you start working in this business they never tell you that you might very likely fall in love with your co-star. You heard the stories, you mock the Brangelina wannabes - the ones that think they'll defy the odds and actually make it work, you despise the home wrecking starlets that sleep with more established actors and directors to get their 15 minutes of fame, and you tell yourself that you will never end up in that position, because you always believed that if given the chance to actually make it in Hollywood you wouldn't throw your career away by falling for the wrong person; like, I don't know, your married co-star. You will do your job, and you won't "shit where you eat." Wouldn't it be great if it were that easy?_

Ellen stood in the deserted hotel hallway. Grasping the cold bottle of champagne tightly, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes trying to bring herself to knock on the door. She raised her fist, then she sighted. No, she was not going to knock on his door at midnight. What self-respecting engaged woman knocks on the hotel room door of a married man in the middle of the night? Shaking her head, she started walking away towards her room.

"Ellen?"

The slender blonde froze in place at the sound of the man's voice. Trying to look as casual as possible, she then turned around only to be face to face with the guy she had not stopped thinking about for almost a year.

"Patrick! Hey. What are you doing here?" she said, immediately regretting how high pitched that sounded.

Patrick gave her a small smile.

"That's my room," he replied, pointing at the door she was only a few feet away from.

Ellen tried her best to sound surprised - thank God for her acting skills.

"What? I asked downstairs and they told me it was Justin's…"

The blue-eyed man raised his eyebrows at Ellen's explanation, then noticed the bottle of champagne in her hand.

"Oh. Ohh! Okay…" he said with a not so subtle smirk.

Ellen's eyes widened as she realized what Patrick was implying with his smirk.

"No. God no! No, that's really not it."

Patrick kept looking at her with a rather amused look.

"Patty! Really! They sent the bottle to my room; the wrong room. I thought it was Justin's because I was told we were the only ones of the cast staying on this floor." offered Ellen, surprising herself at the pretty convincing explanation she had just come up with, and mentally patting herself on the back. Patrick seemed to buy it. Ellen shrugged and started to walk towards her room.

"It's pretty late anyways. We have an early day tomorrow. I guess he'll live without his champagne for tonight," she added.

"Good night, Elle," said Patrick with a genuine smile, that made Ellen weak at the knees.

"G'Night," she replied taking her keycard out of her pocket, still looking at Patrick.

Ellen closed the door behind her and let out a long frustrated sigh.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You are not 16! Patrick is just a friend. Snap out of it!" she mumbled, kicking off her shoes, slipping into her night time attire which consisted of a long, shapeless vintage t-shirt, and collapsing on the hotel's king size bed. She shut her eyes and covered her face with her hands. "Great. Now I'm talking to myself…"

A faint yet insistent knocking on the door interrupted her moment of self-loathing.

"What now…" she wondered, as she contemplated ignoring it. She glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was 12:20 AM. She rolled her eyes, lazily dragged herself to the door, and opened it. She was met by deep blue eyes.

"Patrick…"

"It's pretty good champagne," he said with a smile.

Ellen looked at him not sure of what to make of his statement.

"I could use a glass of good champagne," he continued letting himself into her room.

Ellen smiled closing the door behind her. She loved how nonchalant Patrick always seemed to look. Confident, relaxed, and very sexy even in just a t-shirt and sweatpants.

He had already made himself at home, grabbed two plastic cups, turned on the TV, and was now sitting on the big bed in the middle of the room. She grabbed the bottle of champagne and handed it to Patrick, who opened it expertly, and poured it for the both of them.

"Cheers," he said lifting the plastic cup and clinking it with Ellen's.

"Cheers," she responded, taking a big sip.

"See? Pretty good champagne. Justin has good taste."

Ellen giggled and nodded.

"I love New York," said Patrick, taking a sip of the champagne and trying to find a more confortable position on the bed. "Do you ever miss living on the East Coast?"

"I do. I think I'd be living here if it weren't for the whole acting thing," she replied while playing with the engagement ring on her finger.

"Me, too" he sighed resting his head on Ellen's shoulder, "me, too…"

They fell in a confortable silence as they both finished drinking their champagne. Patrick promptly refilled both of their cups to the brim.

"I assume you were never a bartender…" she giggled.

He smiled at the sound of her giggling. He loved that.

"No, no I wasn't. Am I missing out?"

"Absolutely. Getting people drunk is one fine art!" said Ellen.

"One I'm sure one you're really talented at!"

"If you only knew!"

Patrick laughed. He had always enjoyed spending time with Ellen. Working with someone so closely, for such long hours was either gonna make you hate or love a person. And he loved her. He knew that sometimes it was hard to separate your real life from your character's. He always thought the hardest part of starring on a long-lived TV show was not to fall in love with the co-star – especially if you have a wife and a child. He had been working with Ellen for two years and he knew that lines were often blurred; the late nights at work, sharing a trailer, making eye contact last one second too long, his hand resting a little too low on her back. His thoughts were interrupted by the light floral scent of Ellen's hair, as she rested her head on his. He closed his eyes, breathing it in. Yes. Yes, he was definitely in trouble.

Ellen smiled noticing Patrick smelling her hair. Being so close to him, yet so far, made her heart ache. Laying there next to him, in silence, was so familiar and foreign all at the same time. She was about to let herself fall asleep, when her phone started ringing. Patrick startled by sudden ringing, spilled the content of his cup on the white sheets of the hotel bed.

"Shit, shit. Sorry, Elle. Let me get a hair dryer."

Ellen looked at the screen of her phone and put her hand in front of Patrick's mouth to shut him up.

"Hello," she answered the phone with a fake yawn. "Oh hey, Chris. Yes, I was almost asleep."

Patrick got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom to get some towels. He couldn't hear what Chris was saying, yet he felt annoyance at how he had interrupted that peaceful moment he was having with Ellen. He sighed. He could hear Ellen saying something about being really tired and having a busy day. He washed his hands to get rid of the smell of champagne and suddenly felt painfully aware of the little silver band around his ring finger. He didn't call his wife and daughter to say goodnight; he felt the guilt in his stomach for choosing to hang out with his co-star rather than call his family. This was not the kind of man he wanted to be. He splashed some water on his face to and looked at himself in the mirror, then noticed Ellen standing by the open bathroom door, in her t-shirt, her slender legs exposed. He smiled and handed her a towel. They both walked towards the bed and started drying the champagne soaked sheets.

"How's Chris?"

Ellen's gaze dropped to the floor at Patrick's question.

"He's good," she replied with a slight nod.

"Good."

There was a small awkward silence between them. The infomercial on the TV still playing in the background.

"He's cheating on me," Ellen blurted out. She regretted admitting that as soon as the words left her mouth.

Patrick looked at the woman standing on the opposite side of the bed from him.

"I didn't mean to say that out loud," said Ellen sitting down on the dry side of the bed, covering her face with her hands.

"Ellen…"

Ellen looked at Patrick and saw the concern in the man's eyes.

"I'm not upset. I mean, I'm definitely not as upset as I should be. I knew it all along and I just ignored it, and now he's not even trying to hide it anymore."

"Ellen," repeated Patrick, trying to find words that could be of comfort.

She gave him a small smile.

"It's late," she said after looking at the alarm clock.

"Let me at least help you drying this," said Patrick holding the part of the sheet that was still soaked in champagne.

"It's fine, I got it. Go get your beauty sleep.

Patrick smiled at how stubborn she was. So fragile yet so strong.

"I'll sleep here. Go sleep in my room."

"I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed," she chuckled.

"I'm offering. I'm a gentleman!" grinned Patrick.

"It's okay, really. I always sleep on the other side of the bed anyways."

"Are you sure?" he insisted.

"Yes. I am sure. Go sleep! You look tired."

"Just what every middle aged man wants to hear!"

Ellen smiled as Patrick walked over and gave her a tight hug. She wished he'd never let her go.

Patrick planted a kiss on her nose and looked at her in the eyes.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes" she nodded resting her hand on his chest. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He smiled and walked towards the door. He stopped mid way and turned around.

"For the record, he's an ass," he stated solemnly then opened the door. "You are the dream girl. No man with half a brain would ever cheat on you. I wouldn't."

Ellen bit her lip as the door closed behind him. Why did he have to be so charming?


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2. Thank you everybody for the reviews and messages. I hope you'll enjoy this. I finally have an idea of how I want this story to proceed, so hopefully the updates will be more frequent, now. I'm not particularly a basketball or a Nets fan, but... Ellen Pompeo was at the Nets game tonight! My friend was there (I was at the bar watching Playoff hockey, damn me) and has been texting me since to let me know how adorable and cool Ellen was. Dammit!

Also, in this chapter I mention Pastis. If you have ever lived or been in NYC, you've probably been to Pastis and sometimes still cry thinking about the fact that it will be closed until the end of 2015. I know I do...

I hope you enjoy this chapter, and again, just in case, **this is a work of fiction and should be taken as such.** :)

**Chapter 2**

Ellen opened the small fridge in the pressroom. She took a bottle of water and then closed her eyes, enjoying the cold air.

"Is that the ultimate Hollywood rejuvenating technique?"

Ellen turned around, startled, only to find Sandra, smirking at her.

"Ha," she said returning the smirk and closing the fridge.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on with you? You've been weirder than usual these past three days," Sandra said, sitting down on the black leather couch in the middle of the room.

Ellen sat down next to her, opening her bottle of water.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"Tell me about it. I hate these press tours," said Sandra taking off her shoes and placing her feet on the coffee table in front of her.

"What? You don't enjoy being asked the same thing hundred times a day?"

Sandra raised her eyebrow. "So much sarcasm in such a tiny person… Really, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing's going on," Ellen replied, taking a sip.

"Yeah, I don't buy that."

Ellen sighed. "What is your take on having an affair with a co-star? Hypothetically."

Sandra opened a mouth trying to come up with something, and failing at that.

"Forget it, it was a stupid question. A hypothetical, stupid question."

"No, wait," interrupted Sandra, "I need to think about it."

A few seconds passed. Ellen looked at her co-star, who had rapidly become one of her very close friends during the past few years they had been working together.

"Okay, I have a few questions," Sandra stated breaking the silence.

Ellen nodded.

"Would it be a one time thing or a recurring kind of thing? Would it mean anything at all?" she inquired looking at Ellen in the eyes.

Ellen ran her hand through her hair and closed her eyes. "I don't know. I just… I don't know."

Sandra sighed, taking the water bottle from Ellen's hands and taking a generous sip.

"You're in love with Patrick. I can't say I'm all that surprised about it."

Ellen's eyes widened. "It was a hypothetical question, San! Nobody said anything about love. Jesus, that's… That's intense."

"Okay…" Sandra said with a knowing look.

"Love… Love is such a big word. I mean, the guy's great. He's handsome, and caring, and funny, and charismatic…"

"You convinced me. You're totally not in love with him," teased Sandra.

"This is so wrong," said Ellen with a sigh.

"Listen, joking aside… I think it's pretty normal."

"It is?"

"I always thought that when you play someone's love interest for a long time, there's a line that is not always easy to see or stay away from where this falsified love you have for each others on screen grows beyond your characters' relationship and spill over into real life," explained Sandra.

Ellen smirked "That sounds very poetic. Is that a line from one of your movies?"

Sandra ignored Ellen's comment and continued "It wouldn't be as complicated if he weren't married and you weren't engaged."

Sandra didn't miss Ellen's loud sight. "You are still engaged, right?"

"Of course. Yes. I am. I am still engaged. Chris and I… We are okay."

Sandra gave Ellen a small smile, not believing what she just said for a second, and put her arm around her shoulders. "You know what? I'd say just go for it. I'm all for a little extreme method acting. Get it out of your system."

"That's your advice?" Ellen laughed.

Sandra joined Ellen's laugh "That's what you get for asking relationship advice to the recently divorced woman!"

"Fair enough."

"But really, Ellen… The man looks miserable."

"What?" asked Ellen in surprise.

"I know how it feels and looks like to be in an unhappy marriage and he is definitely in one."

"He's not unhappy! He's 'the' family man. He's more maternal than I will ever be."

Sandra smirked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure he loves his daughter. His wife, I'm not so convinced about it. It's not necessarily a bad thing. The sad eyes, hurt look he got, are totally part of his charm."

Ellen chuckled at Sandra's observations.

"I'm serious! The angsty look is definitely what got his career back on track. That, and building muscle mass."

"You are a horrible human being," said Ellen laughing and playfully hitting Sandra on her arm.

"Ha! Says the one considering having an affair!" promptly replied Sandra joining the other woman's laughing.

"Touche!"

"Nobody tells you that when you sign up to be an actor you'll be practically throwing away any chance to a normal personal life, do they?"

Ellen shook her head. "I guess I can't really complain. My life was a mess even before I became an actress. At least now I get gift bags!" she said, picking up a bag full of skin care products from the floor.

"You ladies got gift bags?"

Ellen and Sandra turned around to see Patrick standing by the door.

"You didn't?" asked Sandra surprised.

"No, I didn't," replied Patrick sitting on the arm of the couch.

"They didn't think you needed a '_wrinkle rewind - anti aging cream_'," Ellen asked reading from a tube of lotion she picked up from her gift bag "And oh my God! Is this a botox consultation coupon?!"

Patrick shook his head smirking at the two women's outraged expressions.

"Wow, I'm a little insulted, and I find this a little sexist," said Sandra examining the various products.

"Oh c'mon. It's not like they're dentures..." laughed Patrick.

Sandra raised her eyebrows "How would you feel if they gave you a gift bag filled with Viagra and Rogaine?

"Point taken," Patrick laughed and stood up "do you ladies want to grab dinner?"

Sandra looked at Ellen who was suddenly very focused on reading the label of her anti aging cream.

"I think I'll pass," she said faking a yawn. "I still have to pack and I barely slept these past two days."

Patrick nodded. "Ellen?"

Ellen looked at Patrick and then at Sandra.

"I… I'm not sure. I need to pick up my dry cleaning from the hotel, and I have to make a few calls…"

"I can pick up your dry cleaning. It's not a problem. I need to get mine, too," offered Sandra.

Patrick looked at Ellen expectantly.

"Oh. Okay. A quick dinner. I still have to pack, too," she said giving in.

"My driver is here," said Sandra, putting her sunglasses on and gathering her stuff. "I'll see you at the airport in the morning."

"Good night. Wake me up tomorrow!"

"Will do," said Sandra waving.

"So," asked Patrick, "what do you feel like eating?"

"Dinner was your idea, you pick," replied Ellen smiling.

"Pastis?" he suggested.

"Sounds great," she agreed.

* * *

Ellen played with her phone as hers and Patrick's black SUV slowly navigated the New York City traffic on their way back to the hotel from the restaurant. Dinner had been nice. They talked about the house Patrick had just bought, about his love for car racing, and how much they missed New England, especially in the fall. Not once they had mentioned work, or their families back in LA. As she looked at him confidently instructing the driver on which route to take, she remembered Sandra's words. _'Go for it. Get it out of your system.'_ She sighed, thinking of how many people would get hurt. No, going for it was not an option.

Patrick turned around to see Ellen staring at him. He noticed her blush, and smiled.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

Ellen nodded, and opened the car window a crack, breathing in the unusually cold May air.

"It's almost summer," she stated, "it shouldn't be this cold."

Patrick scooted closer to her, resting his arm and his jacket around her naked shoulders. He felt her shiver under his touch.

"Thanks," Ellen said as Patrick tightened his grip around her.

"So, excited for this European press tour?" he asked.

Ellen shrugged. "Not particularly," she replied.

"Italy, Monaco, France… C'mon! It's gonna be great!"

"It's gonna be work. Lots of conference rooms, lots of press, practically no free time," she sighed.

Patrick turned around and looked right into her eyes. Ellen felt her breath catch in her throat as his deep blue eyes looked straight into her green ones.

"I promise you we will have fun," he said.

She gave him a small smile, and his gaze involuntarily fell to her lips. He held his breath, thinking of how easy it would be to close that small distance between them, and kiss her, as he started to slowly lean forward.

Ellen's eyes widened realizing Patrick's intentions. She cleared her throat and turned around, freeing herself from his grip. Patrick ran his hand through his hair, slightly embarrassed.

"Elle…"

"It's okay."

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable…" Patrick tried to apologize.

"Really, Paddy. It's okay."

He tried to get closer to her, but she opened the car door.

"We're here," she said, getting out of the car and walking towards the hotel's entrance. "Thank you for dinner. It was delicious. I'll see you in the morning."

"Ellen, wait," he yelled as he took a $20 bill out of his wallet to tip the driver, but she didn't look back.


End file.
